Chapter 2: The Microprocessor and its Architecture

Introduction
• This chapter presents the microprocessor as a
programmable device by first looking at its
internal programming model and then how its
memory space is addressed.
• The architecture of Intel microprocessors is
presented, as are the ways that the family
members address the memory system.
• Addressing modes for this powerful family of
microprocessors are described for the real,
protected, and flat modes of operation.
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Chapter Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Describe function and purpose of each

program-visible register in the 8086-Core2
microprocessors, including 64-bit extensions.
• Detail the flag register and the purpose of
each flag bit.
• Describe how memory is accessed using real
mode memory-addressing techniques.

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Chapter Objectives (cont.)
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

• Describe how memory is accessed using

protected mode memory-addressing
techniques.
• Describe how memory is accessed using the
64-bit flat memory model.
• Describe program-invisible registers found in
the 80286 through Core2 microprocessors.
• Detail the operation of the memory-paging
mechanism.
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2–1 INTERNAL MICROPROCESSOR
ARCHITECTURE
• Before a program is written or instruction
investigated, internal configuration of the
microprocessor must be known.
• In a multiple core microprocessor each core
contains the same programming model.
• Each core runs a separate task or thread
simultaneously.

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A thread consists of a program counter, a register set, and a
stack space.
A task shares with peer threads its code section, data section,
and operating system resources

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The Programming Model
• 8086 through Core2 considered program
visible.
– registers are used during programming and are
specified by the instructions
• Other registers considered to be program
invisible.
– not addressable directly during applications
programming

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• 80286 and above contain program-invisible
registers to control and operate protected
memory.
– and other features of the microprocessor
• 80386 through Core2 microprocessors
contain full 32-bit internal architectures.
• 8086 through the 80286 are fully
upward-compatible to the 80386 through
Core2.
• Figure 2–1 illustrates the programming model
8086 through Core2 microprocessor.
– including the 64-bit extensions
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Figure 2–1 The programming model of the 8086 through the
Core2 microprocessor including the 64-bit extensions.

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Multipurpose Registers
• RAX - a 64-bit register (RAX), a 32-bit register
(accumulator) (EAX), a 16-bit register (AX),
or as either of two 8-bit registers (AH and AL).

• The accumulator is used for instructions such

as multiplication, division, and some of the
adjustment instructions.

• Intel plans to expand the address bus to 52

bits to address 4P (252~1015 =peta) bytes of
memory.
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Address Space (Main Memory: RAM)

• Address bus:16 bit Address Space:64 KBytes

• Address bus:20 bit Address Space:1 MBytes
Address bus:32 bit Address Space:4 GBytes
Address bus:34 bit Address Space:16GBytes
• Address bus:36 bit Address Space:64GBytes
• Address bus:38 bit Address
Space:256GBytes
• Address bus:52 bit Address Space:1015 Bytes

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• RBX, addressable as RBX, EBX, BX, BH, BL.
– BX register (base index) sometimes holds offset
address of a location in the memory system in all
versions of the microprocessor
• RCX, as RCX, ECX, CX, CH, or CL.
– a (count) general-purpose register that also holds
the count for various instructions
• RDX, as RDX, EDX, DX, DH, or DL.
– a (data) general-purpose register
– holds a part of the result from a multiplication
or part of dividend before a division

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• RBP, as RBP, EBP, or BP.
– points to a memory (base pointer) location
for memory data transfers
• RDI addressable as RDI, EDI, or DI.
– often addresses (destination index) string
destination data for the string instructions
• RSI used as RSI, ESI, or SI.
– the (source index) register addresses source
string data for the string instructions
– like RDI, RSI also functions as a general-
purpose register

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• R8 - R15 found in the Pentium 4 and Core2 if
64-bit extensions are enabled.
– data are addressed as 64-, 32-, 16-, or 8-bit
sizes and are of general purpose
• Most applications will not use these registers
until 64-bit processors are common.
– the 8-bit portion is the rightmost 8-bit only
– bits 8 to 15 are not directly addressable as
a byte

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Special-Purpose Registers
• Include RIP, RSP, and RFLAGS
– segment registers include CS, DS, ES, SS, FS,
and GS
• RIP addresses the next instruction in a section
of memory.
– defined as (instruction pointer) a code segment
• RSP addresses an area of memory called
the stack.
– the (stack pointer) stores data through this
pointer
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• RFLAGS indicate the condition of the
microprocessor and control its operation.
• Figure 2–2 shows the flag registers of all
versions of the microprocessor.
• Flags are upward-compatible from the
8086/8088 through Core2 .
• The rightmost five and the overflow flag are
changed by most arithmetic and logic
operations.
– although data transfers do not affect them

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Figure 2–2 The EFLAG and FLAG register counts for the entire 8086 and Pentium
microprocessor family.

• Flags never change for any data transfer or

program control operation.
• Some of the flags are also used to control
features found in the microprocessor.
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• Flag bits, with a brief description of function.
• C (carry) holds the carry after addition or
borrow after subtraction.
– also indicates error conditions
• P (parity) is the count of ones in a number
expressed as even or odd. Logic 0 for odd
parity; logic 1 for even parity.
– if a number contains three binary one bits, it has
odd parity
– if a number contains no one bits, it has even
parity

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List of Each Flag bit, with a brief
description of function.
• C (carry) holds the carry after addition or
borrow after subtraction.
– also indicates error conditions
• P (parity) is the count of ones in a number
expressed as even or odd. Logic 0 for odd
parity; logic 1 for even parity.
– if a number contains three binary one bits, it has
odd parity; If a number contains no one bits, it
has even parity
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• A (auxiliary carry) holds the carry (half-carry)
after addition or the borrow after subtraction
between bit positions 3 and 4 of the result.
• Z (zero) shows that the result of an arithmetic
or logic operation is zero.
• S (sign) flag holds the arithmetic sign of the
result after an arithmetic or logic instruction
executes.
• T (trap) The trap flag enables trapping
through an on-chip debugging feature.

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• I (interrupt) controls operation of the INTR
(interrupt request) input pin.
• D (direction) selects increment or decrement
mode for the DI and/or SI registers.
• O (overflow) occurs when signed numbers
are added or subtracted.
– an overflow indicates the result has exceeded
the capacity of the machine

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• IOPL used in protected mode operation
to select the privilege level for I/O devices.
• NT (nested task) flag indicates the current
task is nested within another task in protected
mode operation.
• RF (resume) used with debugging to control
resumption of execution after the next
instruction.
• VM (virtual mode) flag bit selects virtual
mode operation in a protected mode system.

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• AC, (alignment check) flag bit activates if a
word or doubleword is addressed on a
non-word or non-doubleword boundary.
• VIF is a copy of the interrupt flag bit available
to the Pentium 4–(virtual interrupt)
• VIP (virtual) provides information about a
virtual mode interrupt for (interrupt pending)
Pentium.
– used in multitasking environments to provide
virtual interrupt flags

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• ID (identification) flag indicates that the
Pentium microprocessors support the CPUID
instruction.
– CPUID instruction provides the system with
information about the Pentium microprocessor

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Segment Registers
• Generate memory addresses when combined
with other registers in the microprocessor.
• Four or six segment registers in various
versions of the microprocessor.
• A segment register functions differently in real
mode than in protected mode.
• Following is a list of each segment register,
along with its function in the system.

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• CS (code) segment holds code (programs
and procedures) used by the microprocessor.
• DS (data) contains most data used by a
program.
– Data are accessed by an offset address or
contents of other registers that hold the offset
address
• ES (extra) an additional data segment used
by some instructions to hold destination data.

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• SS (stack) defines the area of memory used
for the stack.
– stack entry point is determined by the stack
segment and stack pointer registers
– the BP register also addresses data within
the stack segment

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• FS and GS segments are supplemental
segment registers available in 80386–Core2
microprocessors.
– allow two additional memory segments for
access by programs
• Windows uses these segments for internal
operations, but no definition of their usage
is available.

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2–2 REAL MODE MEMORY
ADDRESSING
• 80286 and above operate in either the real or
protected mode.
• Real mode operation allows addressing of
only the first 1M byte of memory space—even
in Pentium 4 or Core2 microprocessor.
– the first 1M byte of memory is called the real
memory, conventional memory, or DOS
memory system

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Segments and Offsets
• All real mode memory addresses must consist
of a segment address plus an offset address.
– segment address defines the beginning address
of any 64K-byte memory segment
– offset address selects any location within the
64K byte memory segment
• Figure 2–3 shows how the segment plus
offset addressing scheme selects a memory
location.

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Figure 2–3 The real mode memory-addressing scheme, using a
segment address plus an offset.

– this shows a memory

segment beginning at
10000H, ending at
location IFFFFH
• 64K bytes in length

– also shows how an

offset address, called a
displacement, of
F000H selects location
1F000H in the memory

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• Once the beginning address is known, the
ending address is found by adding FFFFH.
– because a real mode segment of memory is64K
in length
• The offset address is always added to the
segment starting address to locate the data.
• Segment and offset address is sometimes
written as 1000:2000.
– a segment address of 1000H; an offset of 2000H

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Default Segment and Offset
Registers
• The microprocessor has rules that apply to
segments whenever memory is addressed.
– these define the segment and offset register
combination
• The code segment register defines the start
of the code segment.
• The instruction pointer locates the next
instruction within the code segment.

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• Another of the default combinations is the
stack.
– stack data are referenced through the stack
segment at the memory location addressed by
either the stack pointer (SP/ESP) or the pointer
(BP/EBP)
• Figure 2–4 shows a system that contains four
memory segments.
– a memory segment can touch or overlap if 64K
bytes of memory are not required for a segment

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Figure 2–4 A memory system showing the placement of four
memory segments.
– think of segments as
Windows that can be
moved over any area
of memory to access
data or code
– a program can have
more than four or six
segments,
• but only access four or six
segments at a time

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Figure 2–5 An application program containing a code, data, and stack
segment loaded into a DOS system memory.

– a program placed in
memory by DOS is loaded
in the TPA at the first
available area of memory
above drivers and other
TPA programs
– area is indicated by a
free-pointer maintained by
DOS
– program loading is handled
automatically by the
program loader within DOS
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TPA
• The transient program area (TPA) holds the
DOS (disk operating system) operating
system; other programs that control the
computer system.

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Segment and Offset Addressing
Scheme Allows Relocation
• Segment plus offset addressing allows DOS
programs to be relocated in memory.
• A relocatable program is one that can be
placed into any area of memory and executed
without change.
• Relocatable data are data that can be placed
in any area of memory and used without any
change to the program.
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• Because memory is addressed within a
segment by an offset address, the memory
segment can be moved to any place in the
memory system without changing any of the
offset addresses.
• Only the contents of the segment register
must be changed to address the program
in the new area of memory.
• Windows programs are written assuming that
the first 2G of memory are available for code
and data.
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2–3 INTRO TO PROTECTED MODE
MEMORY ADDRESSING
• Allows access to data and programs located
within & above the first 1M byte of memory.
• Protected mode is where Windows operates.
• In place of a segment address, the segment
register contains a selector that selects a
descriptor from a descriptor table.
• The descriptor describes the memory
segment’s location, length, and access rights.
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Selectors and Descriptors
• The descriptor is located in the segment
register & describes the location, length, and
access rights of the segment of memory.
– it selects one of 8192 descriptors from one
of two tables of descriptors
• In protected mode, this segment number can
address any memory location in the system
for the code segment.
• Indirectly, the register still selects a memory
segment, but not directly as in real mode.
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• Global descriptors contain segment
definitions that apply to all programs.
• Local descriptors are usually unique to an
application.
– a global descriptor might be called a system
descriptor, and local descriptor an application
descriptor
• Figure 2–6 shows the format of a descriptor
for the 80286 through the Core2.
– each descriptor is 8 bytes in length
– global and local descriptor tables are a
maximum of 64K bytes in length
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Figure 2–6 The 80286 through Core2 64-bit descriptors.

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• The base address of the descriptor indicates
the starting location of the memory segment.
– the paragraph boundary limitation is removed in
protected mode
– segments may begin at any address
• The G, or granularity bit allows a segment
length of 4K to 4G bytes in steps of 4K bytes.
– 32-bit offset address allows segment lengths of
4G bytes
– 16-bit offset address allows segment lengths of
64K bytes.

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• Operating systems operate in a 16- or 32-bit
environment.
• DOS uses a 16-bit environment.
• Most Windows applications use a 32-bit
environment called WIN32.
• MSDOS/PCDOS & Windows 3.1 operating
systems require 16-bit instruction mode.
• Instruction mode is accessible only in a
protected mode system such as Windows
XP Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows
8 ???.
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• The access rights byte controls access to
the protected mode segment.
– describes segment function in the system and
allows complete control over the segment
– if the segment is a data segment, the direction of
growth is specified
• If the segment grows beyond its limit, the
operating system is interrupted, indicating
a general protection fault.
• You can specify whether a data segment
can be written or is write-protected.
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Figure 2–7 The access rights byte for the 80286 through Core2
descriptor.

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• Descriptors are chosen from the descriptor
table by the segment register.
– register contains a 13-bit selector field, a table
selector bit, and requested privilege level field
• The TI bit selects either the global or the local
descriptor table.
• Requested Privilege Level (RPL) requests
the access privilege level of a memory
segment.
– If privilege levels are violated, system normally
indicates an application or privilege level violation

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Figure 2–8 The contents of a segment register during protected mode operation of
the 80286 through Core2 microprocessors.

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• Figure 2–9 shows how the segment register,
containing a selector, chooses a descriptor
from the global descriptor table.
• The entry in the global descriptor table selects
a segment in the memory system.
• Descriptor zero is called the null descriptor,
must contain all zeros, and may not be used
for accessing memory.

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Figure 2–9 Using the DS register to select a description from the global descriptor
table. In this example, the DS register accesses memory locations
00100000H–001000FFH as a data segment.

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Program-Invisible Registers
• Global and local descriptor tables are found
in the memory system.
• To access & specify the table addresses,
80286–Core2 contain program-invisible
registers.
– not directly addressed by software
• Each segment register contains a
program-invisible portion used in the protected
mode.
– often called cache memory because cache is
any memory that stores information
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Figure 2–10 The program-invisible register within the
80286–Core2 microprocessors.

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• When a new segment number is placed in a
segment register, the microprocessor
accesses a descriptor table and loads the
descriptor into the program-invisible portion of
the segment register.
– held there and used to access the memory
segment until the segment number is changed
• This allows the microprocessor to repeatedly
access a memory segment without referring
to the descriptor table.
– hence the term cache

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• The GDTR (global descriptor table register)
and IDTR (interrupt descriptor table
register) contain the base address of the
descriptor table and its limit.
– when protected mode operation desired, address
of the global descriptor table and its limit are
loaded into the GDTR
• The location of the local descriptor table is
selected from the global descriptor table.
– one of the global descriptors is set up to
address the local descriptor table

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• To access the local descriptor table, the
LDTR (local descriptor table register) is
loaded with a selector.
– selector accesses global descriptor table, & loads
local descriptor table address, limit, & access
rights into the cache portion of the LDTR
• The TR (task register) holds a selector, which
accesses a descriptor that defines a task.
– a task is most often a procedure or application
• Allows multitasking systems to switch tasks
to another in a simple and orderly fashion.
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2–4 MEMORY PAGING
• The memory paging mechanism allows any
physical memory location to be assigned to
any linear address.
• Iinear address is defined as the address
generated by a program.
• Physical address is the actual memory
location accessed by a program.
• With memory paging, the linear address is
invisibly translated to any physical address.
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Paging Registers
• The paging unit is controlled by the contents
of the microprocessor’s control registers.
• Beginning with Pentium, an additional control
register labeled CR4 controls extensions to
the basic architecture.
• See Figure 2–11 for the contents of control
registers CR0 through CR4.

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Figure 2–11 The control register structure of the microprocessor.

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• The linear address, as generated by software,
is broken into three sections that are used to
access the page directory entry, page table
entry, and memory page offset address.
• Figure 2–12 shows the linear address and its
makeup for paging.
• When the program accesses a location
between 00000000H and 00000FFFH, the
microprocessor physically addresses location
00100000H–00100FFFH.

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Figure 2–12 The format for the linear address (a) and a page
directory or page table entry (b).

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• Intel has incorporated a special type of cache
called TLB (translation look-aside buffer).
– because repaging a 4K-byte section of memory
requires access to the page directory and a page
table, both located in memory
• The 80486 cache holds the 32 most recent
page translation addresses.
– if the same area of memory is accessed, the
address is already present in the TLB
– This speeds program execution
• Pentium contains separate TLBs for each
of their instruction and data caches.
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The Page Directory and Page Table
• Only one page directory in the system.
• The page directory contains 1024 doubleword
addresses that locate up to 1024 page tables.
• Page directory and each page table are 4K
bytes in length.
• Figure 2–13 shows the page directory, a few
page tables, and some memory pages.

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Figure 2–13 The paging mechanism in the 80386 through
Core2 microprocessors.

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• DOS and EMM386.EXE use page tables to
redefine memory between locations
C8000H–EFFFFH as upper memory blocks.
– done by repaging extended memory to backfill
conventional memory system to allow DOS
access to additional memory
• Each entry in the page directory corresponds
to 4M bytes of physical memory.
• Each entry in the page table repages 4K
bytes of physical memory.
• Windows also repages the memory system.
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Figure 2–14 The page directory, page table 0, and two memory pages. Note how the
address of page 000C8000–000C9000 has been moved to 00110000–00110FFF.

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2–5 Flat Mode Memory
• A flat mode memory system is one in which
there is no segmentation.
– does not use a segment register to address a
location in the memory
• First byte address is at 00 0000 0000H; the
last location is at FF FFFF FFFFH.
– address is 40-bits
• The segment register still selects the privilege
level of the software.

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• Real mode system is not available if the
processor operates in the 64-bit mode.
• Protection and paging are allowed in the
64-bit mode.
• The CS register is still used in the protected
mode operation in the 64-bit mode.
• Most programs today are operated in the IA32
compatible mode.
– current software operates properly, but this will
change in a few years as memory becomes
larger and most people have 64-bit computers

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Figure 2–15 The 64-bit flat mode memory model.

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SUMMARY
• The programming model of the 8086
through 80286 contains 8- and 16-bit
registers.
• The programming model of the 80386 and
above contains 8-, 16-, and 32-bit extended
registers as well as two additional 16-bit
segment registers: FS and GS.

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SUMMARY (cont.)
• 8-bit registers are AH, AL, BH, BL, CH, CL,
DH, and DL.
• 16-bit registers are AX, BX, CX, DX, SP,
BP, DI, and SI.
• The segment registers are CS, DS, ES, SS,
FS, and GS.
• 32-bit extended registers are EAX, EBX,
ECX, EDX, ESP, EBP, EDI, and ESI.

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SUMMARY (cont.)
• The 64-bit registers in a Pentium 4 with
64-bit extensions are RAX, RBX, RCX,
RDX, RSP, RBP, RDI, RSI, and R8 through
R15.
• In addition, the microprocessor contains an
instruction pointer (IP/EIP/RIP) and flag
register (FLAGS, EFLAGS, or RFLAGS).
• All real mode memory addresses are a
combination of a segment address plus an
offset address.
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SUMMARY (cont.)
• The starting location of a segment is
defined by the 16-bit number in the
segment register that is appended with a
hexadecimal zero at its rightmost end.
• The offset address is a 16-bit number
added to the 20-bit segment address to
form the real mode memory address.
• All instructions (code) are accessed by the
combination of CS (segment address) plus
IP or EIP (offset address).
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SUMMARY (cont.)
• Data are normally referenced through a
combination of the DS (data segment) and
either an offset address or the contents of a
register that contains the offset address.
• The 8086-Core2 use BX, DI, and SI as
default offset registers for data if 16-bit
registers are selected.
• The 80386 and above can use the 32-bit
registers EAX, EBX, ECX, EDX, EDI, and
ESI as default offset registers for data.
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SUMMARY (cont.)
• Protected mode operation allows memory
above the first 1M byte to be accessed by
the 80286 through the Core2
microprocessors.
• This extended memory system (XMS) is
accessed via a segment address plus an
offset address, just as in the real mode.
• In the protected mode, the segment starting
address is stored in a descriptor that is
selected by the segment register.
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SUMMARY (cont.)
• A protected mode descriptor contains a
base address, limit, and access rights byte.
• The base address locates the starting
address of the memory segment; the limit
defines the last location of the segment.
• The access rights byte defines how the
memory segment is accessed via a
program.

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SUMMARY (cont.)
• The 80286 microprocessor allows a
memory segment to start at any of its 16M
bytes of memory using a 24-bit base
address.
• The 80386 and above allow a memory
segment to begin at any of its 4G bytes of
memory using a 32-bit base address.
• This allows an 80286 memory segment limit
of 64K bytes, and an 80386 and above
memory segment limit of either 1M bytes.
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SUMMARY (cont.)
• The segment register contains three fields
of information in the protected mode.
• The leftmost 13 bits of the segment register
address one of 8192 descriptors from a
descriptor table.
• The program-invisible registers are used by
the 80286 and above to access the
descriptor tables.

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SUMMARY (cont.)
• Each segment register contains a cache
portion that is used in protected mode to
hold the base address, limit, and access
rights acquired from a descriptor.
• The cache allows the microprocessor to
access the memory segment without again
referring to the descriptor table until the
segment register's contents are changed.

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SUMMARY (cont.)
• A memory page is 4K bytes in length. The
linear address, as generated by a program,
can be mapped to any physical address
through the paging mechanism found within
the 80386 through the Pentium 4.
• Memory paging is accomplished through
control registers CR0 and CR3.
• The PG bit of CR0 enables paging, and the
contents of CR3 addresses the page
directory.
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SUMMARY (cont.)
• The page directory contains up to 1024
page table addresses that are used to
access paging tables.
• The page table contains 1024 entries that
locate the physical address of a 4K-byte
memory page.
• The TLB (translation look-aside buffer)
caches the 32 most recent page table
translations.

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SUMMARY
• The flat mode memory contains 1T byte of
memory using a 40-bit address.
• In the future, Intel plans to increase the
address width to 52 bits to access 4P bytes
of memory.
• The flat mode is only available in the
Pentium 4 and Core2 that have their 64-bit
extensions enabled.

The Intel Microprocessors: 8086/8088, 80186/80188, 80286, 80386, 80486 Pentium,

Pentium Pro Processor, Pentium II, Pentium, 4, and Core2 with 64-bit Extensions
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